Report: 4 'credible' sex abuse allegations against Hastert

ASSOCIATED PRESS

April 7, 2016

Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast, STF

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FILE - In this June 9, 2015 file photo, former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert arrives at the federal courthouse in Chicago for his arraignment on federal charges in his hush-money case. The Chicago Tribune is citing unidentified law enforcement sources as saying at least four people have made "credible allegations of sexual abuse" against Hastert. In a Thursday April 7, 2016 story, the newspaper says it has determined the identities of three accusers , all men whose allegations stem from when they were teenagers and Hastert was their coach in Yorkville, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File) less

FILE - In this June 9, 2015 file photo, former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert arrives at the federal courthouse in Chicago for his arraignment on federal charges in his hush-money case. The Chicago Tribune ... more

Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast, STF

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FILE - In this June 9, 2015 file photo, former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert arrives at the federal courthouse in Chicago for his arraignment on federal charges in his hush-money case in Chicago. The Chicago Tribune is citing unidentified law enforcement sources as saying at least four people have made "credible allegations of sexual abuse" against Hastert. In a Thursday April 7, 2016 story, the newspaper says it has determined the identities of three accusers, all men whose allegations stem from when they were teenagers and Hastert was their coach in Yorkville, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File) less

FILE - In this June 9, 2015 file photo, former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert arrives at the federal courthouse in Chicago for his arraignment on federal charges in his hush-money case in Chicago. The ... more

Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast, STF

Report: 4 'credible' sex abuse allegations against Hastert

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CHICAGO - At least four people have made "credible allegations of sexual abuse" against former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday, citing unidentified law enforcement sources.

The newspaper said all of the accusers are men whose allegations stem from when they were teenagers and Hastert was their high school coach in Yorkville, southwest of Chicago.

One of the accusers is a relative of one of Hastert's friends and was a student leader at the school in the 1970s, according to the paper.

When that accuser, who has been identified in court documents only as Individual A, applied for his first job after college, he listed Hastert as a reference, the Tribune said. After landing the job in the mid-1980s, he suffered from an anxiety disorder, and court records revealed serious financial problems, the paper reported.

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The Tribune said it had determined the identities of three accusers. One of them is dead. The other two are Individual A and a man referred to as Individual D. The Tribune did not name any of the men who are still alive, and it said it did not know the identity of the fourth accuser and offered no details about that person.

Individual A declined to make any comment when approached by the newspaper. Individual D spoke privately to the newspaper.

The now-deceased accuser named by the Tribune had been named previously by the Associated Press as Stephen Reinboldt, a team equipment manager at Yorkville High School, where Hastert was a teacher and wrestling coach from 1965 to 1981. Individual A and Individual D, the Tribune said, were popular standout athletes from well-known families, the Tribune reported.

Reinboldt's sister, Jolene Burdge of Billings, Mont., has told the AP that her brother told her his first homosexual experience was with Hastert and that the sexual abuse lasted throughout his time at Yorkville. Reinboldt died in 1995.

The abuse of Individual D would have occurred not long before Hastert left the Yorkville school in 1981 to take a seat in the Illinois Legislature. As an adult, Individual D became a successful businessman. Recent court documents indicated he is leaning toward testifying at the Republican's sentencing.

The Tribune cited a source as saying Hastert recently asked a relative of Individual D to write a letter to the sentencing judge. After that, Individual D contacted authorities about possibly making a victim's statement at Hastert's sentencing, the Tribune said.

Hastert, 74, is scheduled to be sentenced April 27.

He pleaded guilty last fall to violating banking laws while seeking to pay $3.5 million in hush money to ensure Individual A stayed quiet. According to court documents, Hastert managed to pay $1.7 million to Individual A in lump sums of $100,000 cash and abruptly stopped the payments in 2014 after the FBI questioned him.

The case has been shrouded in secrecy, starting with the May 28, 2015, indictment. The seven-page document only vaguely hints at Hastert's motivations for breaking banking law. Only two weeks ago - at a court hearing - did the judge and attorneys first broach sexual-abuse allegations.